1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin film pattern forming device and method, and more particularly, to a thin film pattern forming device and method which are capable of simply forming a metal thin film line such as a gate line on a substrate, capable of reducing a manufacturing time, and simplifying an entire structure.
2. Description of the Background Art
Generally, a liquid crystal display (LCD) comprises a rear substrate having driving devices such as a transistor on a plate type glass, a front substrate having a color filter layer, etc on a plate type glass, a sealant bonding the rear substrate and the front substrate to each other, and a liquid crystal layer contained between the rear substrate and the front substrate.
Aligning of liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer is controlled by suitable operation of the driving devices of the rear substrate. An optical property of the liquid crystal layer is controlled by the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules, for thereby displaying an image.
In order to manufacture the rear substrate and the front substrate, a driving device or a color filter layer is formed on a substrate (glass) by a semiconductor fabrication process. A general process for forming a metal thin film line such as a gate line, etc. on a substrate will be explained.
As shown in FIG. 1, a metal thin film is formed on a substrate by a sputtering device. The sputtering device includes a substrate holder 20 provided in a vacuum chamber case 10, for fixing a substrate S; a target holder 30 provided in the vacuum chamber case 10 spaced from the substrate holder 20, for fixing a sputtering target T that is of a metal material; and a power unit 40 provided at one side of the vacuum chamber case 10, for applying a voltage to the substrate holder 20 and the target holder 30.
A vacuum pump 50 is installed at one side of the vacuum chamber case 10, and a gas supply pipe 60 for supplying gas is connected to the vacuum chamber case 10.
The process for forming a metal thin film on the substrate S by using the above sputtering device will now be explained.
First, the substrate S is fixed to the substrate holder 20, and the sputtering target T is fixed to the target holder 30. Under this state, air inside the vacuum chamber case 10 is exhausted thus to vacuumize the vacuum chamber case 10, and then sputtering gas is introduced into the vacuum chamber case 10. Then, a high frequency voltage is supplied to the vacuum chamber case 10 by the power unit 40 thus to generate a plasma in the vacuum chamber case 10. Particles are generated at the sputtering target T by the plasma inside the vacuum chamber case 10. The particles are deposited on the substrate S, thereby forming a metal thin film on the substrate S. When the high frequency voltage is supplied by the power unit 40, an anode is formed at the substrate holder 20 and a cathode is formed at the target holder 30.
After the sputtering process by the sputtering device is completed, a photoresist layer is deposited on the metal thin film formed on the substrate S. Then, the photoresist layer is patterned by a photolithography and developing process so that a part of the metal thin film to be etched except for a gate line to be formed can be exposed. Then, the exposed part of the metal thin film is removed by a dry-etching process or a wet-etching process, and the remaining photoresist layer is removed thus to form a metal thin film line such as a gate line on the substrate S.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the steps of a process for forming a metal thin film pattern on a substrate in accordance with the related art.
However, because the process for forming a metal thin film line such as a gate line, etc. on a substrate necessarily includes a sputtering process step, a photoresist layer depositing process step, exposing and developing process steps, an etching process step, etc., accordingly, the entire process is complicated and much processing time is required. Furthermore, each of the devices described above is required so as to respectively perform each of the processes, thereby incurring high equipment cost.
Also, the process for forming a plasma in the vacuum chamber case is very complicated. That is, in order to form a plasma in the vacuum chamber case, the vacuum chamber case must be maintained under a vacuum state, sputtering gas must be introduced into the vacuum chamber case, and a high frequency voltage must be supplied to the vacuum chamber case. Accordingly, it is difficult to construct and control the sputtering device.